The Mother Heart (1921)

Forced to theft when in dire straits, family man John Howard is arrested for stealing food from a grocery store and is put in jail. The shock kills his wife, and his children are sent to an orphanage. Ella is adopted by a wealthy widow, and May finds a place on the farm of George Stuart, where she attracts the attentions of farmhand Billy Bender. Clifford Hamilton, manager of Stuart's grocery stores, calls at the farm with some papers and comes to know May and later her sister, who has been named heir to the widow. After firing the manager for dishonesty, Stuart finds that Hamilton is responsible for May's father's being jailed, and he reunites Howard with his children.